The Lobes of the Brain

 

Frontal- In charge of reasoning, motor skills, cognition and expressive language

 

Temporal - In charge of hearing

 

Parietal - In charge of sense of touch, pressure and pain

 

Occipital - In charge of vision

 

Cerebellum - coordination of motor movements and basic memory and learning

 

The brain is the most important organ in your body.  It  makes you who you are, it determines eveything about you and tells the rest of your body to do what it has to for you to live.  Your brain is not fully developed until you are around 25 years old.

 

Taking care of your brain is very important, eating healthy can help with brain development. For kids like you and me, they say (I'm not sure who they are but) these are the foods that are supposed to be good for our brain development

 

eggs - has protein which helps us concentrate

 

greek yogurt - has fat and protein which is important to brain health 

 

greens (spinach, kale) - Full of vitamins  (kale is a superfood, it has lots of antioxidents and other things that help new brain cells grow) 

fish - vitamin D and Omega 3  which helps with mental skills and memory

nuts and seeds - protein, fatty acids, vitamins and minerals  which helps with your mood

 

oatmeal - protein and fibre which helps keep arteries clear

 

apples and plums - antioxidents which help with mental skills

 

It's important that we do what we can to protect our brains.  So when playing sports, you should always wear the equipment that is required such as helmets and mouthguards (it seems weird but a mouthguard helps with the prevention of concussions). You should always make sure that your equipment is not damaged and fits properly.   

 

When riding a bike or skateboard, you should always wear a helmet.  Some kids think it's not cool to wear a helmet but it would be less cool to be lying in an operating room having brain surgery because you were injured because you weren't protecting yourself 

 

There are two different categories of brain injuries.  There is ABI and TBI.

 

TBI - Traumatic Brain Injury. An injury caused by  sudden physical damage.  There are lots of different things that cause TBI's (like sports injuries, car accidents, being hit hard in the head, falls)

 

ABI - Acquired Brain Injury - An injury acquired after birth.  You are not born with a genetic disorder or disease causing an injury to your brain. ABI's include all TBI's and also include things like tumors, Aneurysms and AVMs (Arteriovenous Malformation) (that is was I had) which is a malformation in the vessels in your brain.

 

These injuries may be temporary or permanent and depending on where the damage is on your brain effects different functions.  My injury was on the right parietal lobe which affected my movement and senses on the left side of my body. So my left arm and leg were much weaker than my right side and the sensation on my left side was not as strong as on the right.

 

There are lots of websites that have good information about the brain, brain injuries and how to protect your brain. If you want to learn more here are some links for Brain and Mental Health information from Sick Kids Hospital that we have been given.  Just click on the link:

 

http://www.sickkids.ca/brain-mental-health/index.html

http://www.sickkids.ca/Brain-Mental-Health/about-us/About-the-Brain/index.html

 

My story has also been featured on a Faces of Brain Injury page on the www.areyouaware.ca website through the Brain Injury Society of Toronto.  They have alot of good information on their site too.